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Jonathan Drouin looking to avoid '13 world junior repeat

Canada's Jonathan Drouin (C) reacts with teammates goalie Malcolm Subban (L) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after their loss to USA in their semifinal game at the 2013 IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championship in Ufa January 3, 2013. (REUTERS)

Nearly a year has passed since Jonathan Drouin watched in agony as the United States celebrated after beating Canada in the semifinal at the 2013 world junior championship.

The loss sent the Canadians to the bronze-medal game, where they fell in an overtime stunner to the Russians, while the Americans beat Sweden to win gold.

Drouin has learned plenty about himself as a hockey player since then, whether it was helping the Halifax Mooseheads win the Memorial Cup in May or being drafted third overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in June, only to be cut a few months later on the eve of the 2013-14 National Hockey League season.

But every time he takes his mind back to the afternoon of Jan. 3, when the Americans dusted off the Canadians in surprisingly easy fashion, Drouin can’t help but wince.

“I know how it feels to lose in this tournament and I don’t want it to happen again,” Drouin said on Friday.

“It was so disappointing to lose to the U.S., and I’m using that as motivation.”

To say that Drouin has made in-roads as a hockey player the past couple of years would be an understatement. He didn’t make his debut with Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League until December of 2011, when he was summoned from the triple-A midget Lac St-Louis Lions after the Mooseheads drafted him earlier that year.

Drouin had two assists in his first game with Halifax, starting a major junior career that has been filled mostly with excellence.

He was named the Canadian Hockey League player of the year for 2012-13 after piling up 105 points in 49 games before he and Nathan MacKinnon led the Mooseheads to the Memorial Cup title in Saskatoon.

Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman and his staff were impressed enough with Drouin to select him ahead of stud defenceman Seth Jones, who was picked fourth by the Nashville Predators in this year’s draft.

But there was a harsh reminder of his status when Tampa returned him to the Mooseheads. Not only was he told he was not yet ready for the NHL, but Drouin was the only player in the top six draftees who did not stick with his NHL club.

“You see a lot of players from the draft still playing in the NHL right now, and one of the reasons I am not there is my defensive side,” Drouin said. “It’s what I have been trying to work on. I want to make sure I am at the right level when I show up in (Lightning) camp next year.”

Drouin, playing centre, and linemate Anthony Mantha are being given a chance by Canada coach Brent Sutter to work some magic in the 2014 world junior, and it started when Drouin, one of Canada’s alternate captains, assisted on all three of Mantha’s goals in a tournament-opening win against Germany on Thursday.

“You forget he is still a young player,” Sutter said of Drouin, one of 11 Canadian players on the team who are eligible to play in the 2015 world junior.

“But he is like all young players, in that he has lots to learn in the game, things to do consistently.

“He is certainly an elite player at this level, and there is no question he helps (Mantha) with his speed and his skill to make plays.”

A year ago, the 5-foot-11, 192-pound Drouin was happy to blend in with his teammates at the world junior, while remaining cognizant that many scouts’ eyes were on him in his draft year.

Now, he is seen as an offensive catalyst, and knows if he fills that expectation, it will increase Canada’s chances of winning a gold medal for the first time since 2009.

“Last year I came in as an underdog making the team, but I have a more confidence in myself this year and having a bigger role,” Drouin said. “I’ve been in the right place at the right moment.

“I know with experience this tournament is hard to win when you’re playing the best players from every country. You have to be ready every game.”